Monday, 2 December 2013

One of the most popular talks at this years GGI2013 was The Munster Irish DNA Project presented jointly by Elizabeth O'Donoghue / Ross, Nigel McCarthy and Finbar O Mahony. The good news is that the slides from this excellent presentation are now available for download from Elizabeth's profile page or simply by clicking here.

The YouTube videos of the presentations are proving to be very popular indeed and even though it is only 6 weeks since the event took place, they have been viewed a total of 3000 times for 37,500 minutes (that's 625 hours). The YouTube Channel is simply called Genetic Genealogy Ireland and you can access it here.

And if you're stuck for a Christmas present for someone, why not take advantage of the FTDNA Christmas sale. This goes on until 31st Dec and they usually extend it for a few days into the New Year. The Y-DNA-37 test is only $119 (usual price $169). The Family Finder test is it's usual price of only $99, but, if you live in the US, you also get a free $100 gift card for use at Restaurant.com!

Friday, 15 November 2013

On Sunday 10th November, Maurice Gleeson provided feedback on GGI2013 at the 9th Annual Conference of FamilyTreeDNA, sponsors of GGI2013. His presentation emphasised the success of Ireland's first genetic genealogy conference and was enthusiastically received by both the sponsors FTDNA and the assembled audience of about 250 project administrators. With a bit of luck, we will be able to repeat the event again next year.

The FTDNA conference was very well attended and there were some excellent presentations. Several people did extensive write-ups of the conference and Debbie Kennett has summarised them in her blog post here.

In addition, FTDNA announced a special offer!

FTDNA's new Big Y test

The Big Y DNA Test replaces the Walk the Y test and covers 10 million base pairs. It will help identify many more SNP markers and will help further elucidate the finer branches of the Y-DNA haplotree. It is on offer at $200 less than it's normal price until December 1st 2013.

Friday, 18 October 2013

The GGI2013 conference starts today. Be sure to follow the Facebook updates and the Twitter feeds #ggi2013, and why not watch the presentations on our dedicated YouTube channel - most will be uploaded there immediately after each talk.

Day Job - My background is in science and mathematics and I taught in a second level school until I took early retirement in 2006. I live in Co. Cork, Ireland.

How did you get into genealogy?
I started researching the Irish side of my family tree in 1997. My father was fostered and with very little paperwork to go on, it proved very difficult to make progress so I turned to DNA in 1999.

What about your involvement with genetic genealogy?
Over the years, I became more and more involved in using DNA in family history research. I was involved in setting up the O’Shea yDNA Project in 2003 and the Ireland yDNA Project in early 2006. I am also using autosomal DNA in my family history research.

So what will you be talking about?
I will be part of the panel discussing the Genetic History of Ireland (on Friday 18th) and will present some of the data from the Ireland yDNA Project which is a y-Geographic Project run through Family Tree DNA - http://www.familytreedna.com/public/IrelandHeritage/

What DNA tests will be discussed?
Y-DNA primarily

Where can people get more information about you or your topic?
For more information just click on the links below:

An especially convened panel will discuss the genetic history of Ireland at the first day of Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013. The panel will explore the different genetic imprints that various migrations have left on the island and will delve deeply into the various subgroups of the R1b haplogroup, the most common genetic signature of the Irish people.

The panel will review the cutting edge work that is currently ongoing in this area and discuss the possible implications for Irish genealogy.

Monday, 14 October 2013

Maurice Gleeson looks at the results of a recent DNA survey and offers a critical appraisal.

A new survey on this website reveals that 93% of people would be interested in having a DNA test done to help find their ancestors. The survey is being carried out as part of the run-up to Ireland's first conference on genetic genealogy at the Back to Our Past exhibition at the RDS in Dublin from October 18th to 20th.

The overwhelming majority of people who responded to the survey (at www.ggi2013.blogspot.ie) gave a resounding yes when asked "would you be interested in doing a DNA test?". This suggests that the Irish public is more open to DNA testing than previously thought and many more people may undertake such testing in the future.

A peculiarly Irish problem
Genealogy is one of the fastest growing hobbies worldwide, and the Irish are no exception as regards popular interest in this addictive past-time. Last year 20,000 people attended the Back to Our Past exhibition in the RDS, and this year it plays host to Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013 - a 3-day series of lectures and presentations on how DNA can help people trace their ancestors.

Ireland has a particular problem when it comes to family history research due to the vast destruction of records in the Four Courts fire of 1922. Eight hundred years of Irish history was reduced to smoke and ash in the space of a few hours. As a result, many people will hit a "Brick Wall" on most of their ancestral lines around about 1800. Only the very lucky can trace back into the 1700's. But DNA testing can help break through these Brick Walls.

What do you want to find out?
You can get several things from a DNA test, depending on which test you take, and which company you test with. For example, your DNA can tell you about your deep ancestry, and reveal the route your ancestors took when modern humans left Africa about 60,000 years ago. Only 14% of respondents selected this option when asked "what would you want to find out from a DNA test?". And of these 9% were interested in the deep ancestry of their direct male line (i.e. the father's father's father's line) and only 5% in the deep ancestry of their direct female line. The gender gap exists in genealogy by virtue of the patrilineal descent of surnames in Western cultures and the fact that we are a male-oriented society. Men appear in historical records more often than women.

Deep ancestry makes for some interesting cocktail party banter, but it does a lot more than that - it helps to root us all in Africa, the place of our ancestral birth. We are all ultimately Africans. And this cuts across notions of race and how at the end of the day we are all genetically human, no matter what the colour of our skin. In fact, as time goes on, notions of race will become far less important than one's actual genetic makeup. It is quite possible for two people of the same "race" to have more genetic differences than two people from "separate races". There is a lot more to human beings than skin colour. Genetically, what's under the skin is much more important.

Still on this topic, 17% of respondents suggested they would be most interested in discovering their ethnic makeup from a DNA test. This is a rather strange result as one would assume that most people in Ireland would be predominantly European or Caucasian by ethnicity, with very few people having African, Asian, or Native American Indian ancestral origins. Maybe there is a romantic notion that an African influence was introduced to Ireland by virtue of the Spanish Armada or trading with Spain, which after all was the first muslim country in Europe thanks to the Moors, who themselves were a mixed bag of Arab, Berber, and sub-Saharan African. Or perhaps Irish people are more interested in discovering what percentage of their DNA came from European ethnic subgroups - Viking, Norman, English, Scotch. As technology advances in this field, the biogeographical analyses that underlie these particular tests will become much more sensitive enabling more accurate assessments of ethnic admixture to be undertaken.

However, the majority of people (65%) are more interested in their recent ancestry with equal numbers wishing to explore their direct male line specifically (28%) and connect with cousins on all their ancestral lines (28%). Only 9% of people were interested in exploring the recent ancestry of their direct female line. As usual, our female ancestors get a raw deal. Along the female line, the surname changes with every generation, and it is easy to lose the traces of our female ancestral heritage. This seems particularly unfair given that the majority of genealogists are women.

So what test do you want to take?
The last question in the survey asks "what DNA test would be the most important for you?" and again a clear gender bias is obvious with 25% choosing the Y-DNA test (which measures the father's father's father's line) and only 8% choosing the mitochondrial DNA test (which measures the mother's mother's mother's line).

However, the vast majority of people in the survey chose the autosomal DNA test (66%). This looks at all the chromosomes and therefore assesses all one's ancestral lines. In short, not just one's direct male and female lines, but those too and everything else in between. It also provides you with a breakdown of your ethnic makeup and can reveal information about physical traits and medical risk (depending on the testing company). So it kills several birds with the one stone.

And in terms of breaking down Brick Walls in your family tree, the autosomal DNA test holds out the most promise. This test will identify about 99% of first and second cousins, 90% of third cousins, 50% of fourth cousins and 10% of fifth cousins. Typically, about eight weeks after you have tested, you will get an email from the testing company instructing you to go to your own personal (private) webpage where they have uploaded your results together with a list of the people in their database who match you - your DNA cousins, so to speak. Given that the average age for the intrepid family historian is about 70 (i.e. born around 1940), and allowing 30 years per generation, most Irish genealogists will be interested in contacting DNA cousins who are estimated to be their third or fourth cousins, and who therefore share a common ancestor born about 1820 or 1790 respectively. This collaboration between genetic cousins may help break down Brick Walls in your family tree occurring around the 1800 timepoint.

Many of these genetic cousins are likely to be American and some of them will have more extensive family trees than you do. After all, American records were not blown up in 1922. In fact, despite the US and Canada being relatively "young" countries historically, their genealogical records frequently go back much further than ours in Ireland. And this can provide a rich source of information when Irish records run out. Sometimes the way to go further back in Ireland is to jump across the Atlantic and trace those distant cousins who emigrated to the New World. Many of them will have recorded information about their parents that will help you push a particular ancestral line back an extra generation.

What does the future hold for our past?
Autosomal DNA testing is still at an early stage of development and the testing companies need to provide more tools and utilities for manipulating, analysing, and interpreting the data. There are many areas where automation is possible and this would help prevent people getting bogged down in their results. In time, as more people take this test and the tools for analysis improve, people will find this a very powerful method for identifying common ancestors.

Because of the joint patrilineal inheritance of surname and Y-chromosome (it is only passed from father to son), the Y-DNA test is helping to elucidate the history of Irish surnames and it won't be long before specific surnames are linked genetically to the ancient Irish genealogies. Much of the current ongoing Irish DNA research will be presented at the forthcoming conference at Back to Our Past in the RDS.

DNA testing is an additional useful tool for the genealogist's armamentarium. The results merit careful interpretation. Oftentimes DNA will not provide definitive answers, but it will frequently help focus your research and hint where to look next.

As a science, genetic genealogy is relatively young (the first tests only became commercially available about ten years ago) but the fact that so many people are interested in DNA testing augurs well for the future of genetic genealogy in Ireland.

Additional informationThe survey results thus far are based on a maximum sample size of 152. The survey was widely advertised on Facebook and people were encouraged to complete the survey if they were Irish. Most of the 10,700 visitors to the GGI2013 website to date are from the US (36%), Ireland (27%), and the UK (20%). The survey can be found at www.ggi2013.blogspot.ie

Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013 is a 3-day series of presentations that runs at Back to Our Past at the RDS, Dublin, October 18-20, 2013. The lecture series is sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy), and runs in parallel to the usual traditional genealogy lectures sponsored by rootsireland.ie and organised by APGI (Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland).

Maurice Gleeson is a medical doctor and genetic genealogist. He has used DNA testing to break down a Brick Wall in his Spierin line and to confirm a common Gleeson ancestor with a family in Australia. He runs the Spearin Surname Project and is co-administrator of the Irish Mitochondrial-DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA. He is an active member of the International Society of Genetic Genealogists (ISOGG).

Saturday, 12 October 2013

More free stuff for those attending Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013 at Back to Our Past next week (Oct 18-20). This time it's free access to www.genetichomeland.com. Here's a message from Brad Larkin ...

Genetic Homeland Finder plots genealogy records on a mapping system so that you can visualize your genealogy data.

See how multiple surnames and data sources intersect to help overcome ‘brick walls’ in your genealogy.

Built for PC, Mac, mobile phone or tablet use.

No registration fees. No monthly subscription fees.

New: 1798 Walker Map of Ireland

We have digitized an original 1798 Walker Map of Ireland and will be offering it in our Genetic Homeland Finder maps. This exciting new map layer will debut on October 18th in conjunction with the Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013 conference. You will also be able to save a customized version of the map with your ancestral surnames plotted.

Free, Special Offer

We are offering 6 surname & data search credits free to attendees of the Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013 conference in Dublin on October 18-20, 2013.

This offer is on top of the 6 free credits we normally grant for new users. Offer expires October 27, 2013 and is limited to those with a valid registration for the conference. Limit one user account per person.

Wednesday, 9 October 2013

A Press Release was sent out today to all the local, Regional and National Irish newspapers, together with a Feature Article, reporting the interim results of the poll that is running on this website (at the end of the column to the right).

A stonking 93% of respondents are interested in doing a DNA test which augurs well for the future of genetic genealogy in Ireland. There was a clear gender bias with 25% of people voting for the Y-DNA test as the most important test for them and only 8% choosing the mitochondrial DNA test. However, two thirds of people favoured the autosomal DNA test, further underscoring the need to provide better tools and utilities for manipulating, analysing and interpreting the data.

Wednesday, 18 September 2013

We've just set up a Facebook group to make it easier for you to ask your questions about DNA and how it can help with your own family tree research. The group is open to the general public and anyone can join.

The aim of this group is simple - to encourage people living in Ireland today to have a DNA test.

Six million people live in Ireland today and they hold in their DNA the answer that the 70 million people of the Irish diaspora are asking: where did my Irish ancestors come from?

DNA can be a very powerful tool indeed. It can confirm relationships you didn't know existed, it can break through the Brick Walls you hit in your own research, it can take your family tree back beyond 1800, it can even tell you to what Irish Clan you probably belonged.

And this is only the beginning for DNA - the science is moving so fast that the scientists are running to keep up. And that's where you come in ...

The more people living in Ireland who get tested, the more we will find out about our unique genetic heritage.

An army of genetic genealogists have volunteered to help. Giving of their own time, they have set up DNA projects to help you find out more about your genetic signature, discover the origins of your surname, and connect you with cousins you never knew you had. So help is out there and all you have to do is have a DNA test.

So get tested today!

The greatest book of Irish history is written in your DNA.

Any questions?
Are you living in Ireland? Do you have a question about DNA, and how it can help out with your family tree? Then join the Facebook group, post your queries, and get your answers.

There is a huge community of genetic genealogists, both at home and abroad, who are passionate about their calling and enthusiastic about helping. There are many experienced genetic genealogists with Irish expertise and you can benefit from their wisdom and passion simply by joining the group and asking a question. Someone is bound to know the answer!

If you are completely new to DNA testing and how it can help you, our introduction to DNA testing should help answer a few questions. And if you have further queries, then simply post them on our Facebook page.

You should also check out our new resources page which lists many free online resources that can help you with your research. You may find some that you were not aware of.

Want to have a DNA test?
Are you coming to the Back to Our Past event in October? If so, be sure to visit the FTDNA stand where you can get DNA tests at discounted prices.

And for some lucky people, a Free DNA Test is just around the corner. We're giving some away in the run-up to the Back to Our Past exhibition, and for other people there are free sponsored tests if you have a certain surname - check out the Free DNA Tests page for more details.

The more Irish people who test, the more we learn of our unique genetic heritage.

Monday, 9 September 2013

Member - I am a member of Southern California Genealogical Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, and Colonial Dames of the XVII Century.

Day Job(s) - Director of ISOGG, President of the Salida Chamber of Commerce

Night Job - I co-founded and became Director of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG), which promotes and educates about genetic genealogy to over 8,000 members in 70 countries. We work to increase professional standards in the practice, research, and discussion of relevant issues in DNA testing, interpretation, and ethics. I now give many presentations on genetic genealogy to groups across the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as administering several surname, regional, and haplogroup DNA projects.

How did you get into genealogy?
I started doing genealogy in 2000 after the passing of my last grandparent. I realized that if I didn't start doing genealogy now, a lot would be lost.

What about your involvement with genetic genealogy?
I learned about genetic genealogy from a speaker at a Daughters of the American Revolution meeting and became a DNA Project Administrator ten years ago this month! (Oct).

So what will you be talking about?
On Friday, I'm going to be talking about the importance of American DNA (and in particular Irish-American DNA) to the Irish public and how it can help you in your own family tree research. And then on Sunday, I'll be discussing the basics of DNA testing and helping people understand what test might be best for them to take.

What DNA tests will be discussed?
I'll be talking about all three types of DNA test ... Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA and autosomal DNA.

To what surnames is this topic relevant?
It's relevant to anyone who has family that travelled across to America.

Where can people get more information about you or your topic?

Everyone should join ISOGG - there is loads of support and a dedicated community of genetic genealogists just waiting to help you

The ISOGG wiki is a great place to get up-to-date information about the latest to do with DNA and DNA testing

Katherine Borges - The basics of DNA testing

Published on 20 Oct 2013

As the Director of ISOGG, Katherine has been heavily engaged in genetic genealogy practically since the birth of this new science. Here she discusses the basics of DNA testing generating a battery of incisive questioning from her Irish audience.

Presented at Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013 on Sunday 20th Oct 2013. Please note that these GGI2013 videos are copyrighted to the presenter and should only be used for personal study. They are not to be used for any other purpose without the presenters express permission. Also, please note that because this is a rapidly advancing field, the content may quickly become outdated.

Katherine Borges - The Irish American DNA Connection

Published on 30 Oct 2013

Here Katherine discusses how Irish-American DNA can help break through the Brick Walls in the family trees of Irish people researching in Ireland today.

Presented at Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013 on Friday 18th Oct 2013. Please note that these GGI2013 videos are copyrighted to the presenter and should only be used for personal study. They are not to be used for any other purpose without the presenters express permission. Also, please note that because this is a rapidly advancing field, the content may quickly become outdated.

The lectures were sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy).

Position - Dan holds a Personal Chair in the Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, and has written or co-authored over 110 publications including many in premier journals (e.g. Science, PNAS, Nature) – see Publications below.

Detection of signatures of selection in human, bovine, salmon and chicken genomes

Origins of livestock as discerned using genetic diversity

Genetic basis of disease resistance in cattle

So what will be the topic of the presentation at GGI2017?
It is now known from ancient genomic investigation that massive migrations were part of cultural transitions in European prehistory. It is interesting to discover if Ireland and Portugal underwent these massive migrations. This lecture explores the evidence for such migrations and discusses the implications of the results for understanding the origins of modern populations and the languages they speak.

This year, the four lectures on Friday afternoon (including Dan's lecture) were made possible by the kind support of CITIGEN, a HERA Project. CITIGEN is an international collaborative research project that looks at the uses of modern and ancient genomic data in shaping public understandings of the past and our individual and collective identities.

Previous presentations

Each year since the inception of Genetic Genealogy Ireland, Dan has spoken about the ground-breaking work of his lab on ancient genomes and the relevance of the research to anthropology, genetic genealogy, & the study of disease.

Many ancient Irish skeletons are currently undergoing ancient DNA analysis. They vary in age and some are up to 6000 years old. 2016 saw the publication of the first of several papers reporting on the analysis of four such skeletons which were found in Rathlin Island and Ballynahatty. Further research is ongoing and Dan returns annually to GGI to give us an update on his team's research.

Thursday, 8 August 2013

You could describe me as the business manager/master printer/general factotum for my family of artists - Tighe O'Donoghue/Ross, Eoghan and D’Ana. I am the Group Administrator of The O’Donoghue Society Y-DNA Project since April 2005, founder of the Munster Irish DNA Project with Nigel McCarthy and Finbar O Mahony in Jan 2012 (see Finbar's profile as well),founder of the R1b-CTS4466 Plus Haplogroup Project in Oct 2013, contributor to the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society Kerry Magazine and Journal, The O’Donoghue Society Journal, the Irish Genealogical Society International Journal and occasional wolfhound breeder.

Member - ISOGG,
The O’Donoghue Society, Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society, former
Executive Director of Clans of Ireland

How did you get into genealogy?

I
joined my husband in researching Irish and family history over forty years
ago. We returned to Ireland from the US
with our family in 1986 and have continued that pursuit. My own family have Welsh origins, emigrating
to the US before the Civil War.

What about your involvement with genetic genealogy?

The O’Donoghue Society embarked upon a Y-DNA project in 2003, in which I became involved from the outset, accepting the role of Group Administrator two years later. Researching the different tribes of O’Donoghues resulted in a particular focus on Munster, which is my husband’s heritage. The understanding of any ofO’Donoghue historyis inextricably entwined with the entire population of Munster,and I thought of formalizing a project devoted to increasing our knowledge of the genetic ancestry of this southern province. Nigel McCarthy and Finbar O Mahony,whose families share a Munster Eóganacht heritage, agreed to join me and have helped make the project a fascinating study of ancient Irish heritage. Initiating the R1b-CTS4466 Plus Project has expanded our understanding of the most populous haplotype found in the south of Ireland.

What
will you be talking about?

The aims of the project and the discoveries
to date:

How the project is organized

What genetic signatures are found in Munster

How they differ from the rest of the island

What relationships there are between the various Munster surnames

What clues there are of where these genetic signatures originated

How old they are

How they compare to the ancient genealogical tracts which identify
the early surnames found in Munster

What next

To what surnames is
this topic relevant?

All native Irish surnames found in Munster –
the full list is available at our website

The Munster Irish DNA Project and the Men of Munster -- Who Are They?

Published on 31 Oct 2013

We are privileged to have three people presenting on one of the most elegant Geographic DNA Projects at FTDNA. The Munster Irish is a project that explores the genetic signatures of the men of the south of Ireland, the relationships that exist between the various Munster surnames, and whether the DNA evidence refutes or confirms the ancient genealogies of Munster. Please enjoy the excellent company of Elizabeth O'Donoghue/Ross, Nigel McCarthy, and Finbar O Mahony.

Presented at Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013 on Sunday 20th Oct 2013. Please note that these GGI2013 videos are copyrighted to the presenter and should only be used for personal study. They are not to be used for any other purpose without the presenters express permission. Also, please note that because this is a rapidly advancing field, the content may quickly become outdated.

The lectures were sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy).